I looked down the abyss, I looked straight into the darkness, right into a sure death. It was terrifyingly deep. At the bottom was nothing but pitch black. I could maybe make out a slight overhang that would be barely wide enough for my hand to hold onto it.

"Are you sure this is the right way?" I asked.

"Of course it is," M responded, digging his claws a little deeper into my shoulder. "How dare you doubt me, the great... M!"

"Right, right..."

I felt a little unsure whether or not it was a good idea to deactivate my wood elven magic mark, after all, I'd lose my enhanced reflexes, hearing and the like. Even if it was for only a few moments...

"Is there any dangerous-looking creature around here?" I asked.

"I saw nothing around here," M responded. "Don't worry and just find a way over to the other side.

I sighed out loud and quickly switched my magic marks. The swirling and curving lines covered my skin.

"[Far Step]" I whispered under my breath.

The black-dark green energy engulfed both me and M and then consumed us completely once I took a step. M let out a croak once we reached the other side.

"Impressive, the ability to teleport!" he said, sounding quite happy.

The things that impress a talking bird that can fly faster than the fucking wind...

I once again swapped my magic marks and the fine almost runic lines covered my skin again.

"Why do the tattoos on your body have to change in order for you to use a different power?" I was asked by M.

"Eh..." I really didn't want to explain something like that to M right now.

"Oh wait, let me guess. These tattoos grant you your power!" M concluded.

"That's it," I responded.

Now that I thought about it, he hadn't seen me without a magic mark active yet...

I activated [Predator's Instinct] again and continued onwards, following M's directions. For a while, we just walked through the forest with nothing happening. But then I felt it, his presence.

Terror's back!

You need to run!

I chuckled.

Easier said than fucking done.

"What's wrong?" M asked.

"We got a visitor," I said.

"A visitor?" M asked, confused.

"Running is not really an option... and I just switched my marks," I said, completely ignoring M.

As I was about to switch marks again I heard a loud roar right behind me.

I turned around and looked at Terror's four bright blue eyes. The three long pieces of fur were still suspended in the air and he seemed to have gotten slightly slimmer and longer.

"Well hello there," I said as my warp magic mark fully activated.

"[Continuous Far Step]" I said.

The black-dark green energy consumed both me and M and I took a step. I reappeared further away and immediately took another step. I repeated that process until I began to feel my mana reserves drying up.

"It's not far anymore," M said.

I grit my teeth and continued warping. But then I suddenly felt a burning pain in my back. I fell to the ground. It hurt like hell. The pain was nearly strong enough to make me cry.

What the hell?

I turned around and looked up at Terror. My eyes wandered down his slim but still muscular front legs and I saw blood dripping from one of his claws, my blood. [Blood High] wanted to activate but I managed to suppress it and began crawling backwards, away from Terror.

How? I was warping.

Force evolution... Ira said.

Force evolution? What do you mean?

That's the type of magic this overgrown cat uses. It has the ability to force its own body to perfectly evolve. Since you were faster than it even after it already evolved once it now became fast enough to out-speed you... which apparently is also faster than you can warp.

Well, fuck me...

Before I could even see it Terror had hit me with one of his paws and I crashed into a nearby tree, yet again. I coughed up blood, yet again.

"I've had enough of all of this bullshit..." I said, slowly getting angrier.

Getting angry won't help you now!

I know, I know...

Terror already stood beside me, one paw on my already hurt ankle. I chuckled as I felt the pain of my ankle snapping. My leg was now completely useless. I also felt him press his other paw onto my other ankle and crush it. I chuckled again.

"Is this it?" I asked, no one in particular.

"No, it's not," I heard M say.

He wasn't on my shoulder anymore, instead, he sat upon Terror's head, digging his sharp claws into the beast's skull.

Terror let out a loud roar of pain.

"M.." I managed to cough up.

"It's in that direction. Completely surrounded by trees, has this mysterious shine to it, impossible to miss. I'll keep the little kitty some company while you go there," M said, pointing towards a narrow path to our right.

The last thing I saw of M was him becoming a black blur that raced around Terror. I turned away from them, only hearing Terror's roars. I began crawling towards the path. Terror appeared beside me once again but his leg was already quite bloody. I managed to avoid another attack with the help of the black blur that was M and continued crawling along the floor like some pathetic worm. I spit out more blood onto the dirt. It was quite difficult to breathe while having to ignore the burning pain from a long wound on your back.

It took me a long time to even get to the narrow path, but crawling along it took me even longer. I had to drag my body over sharp stones, plants that made my exposed skin itchy and caused a burning sensation on my exposed flesh. The pain almost made me pass out.

Was there something on his claws?

Possible... I don't like the fact that we have to face something with that type of magic...

Bad experiences?

I coughed up some more blood.

It's responsible for the existence of some of the most powerful beings that ever lived... it's generally seen as a type of magic without limit. After a certain point, it won't just change the user's body... it can also grant them powers and such.

Sounds useful...

Heh, of course, it does. Ira sounded a slight bit sarcastic. It's a type of magic that will eventually turn the user into something like the greaters.

Greaters?

The greater devils and greater deities, the highest of all known life forms. But enough about that! Focus on getting to a safe place!

Ira was right, I didn't really have time for an idle chat... I needed to get out of here. No matter how far I crawled I could still hear Terror's angry roars. I could hear trees falling over and I felt the ground shaking. The wind had become violent around me... and with the wind came the voices.

They had returned.

"Worm!"

"Cockroach!"

"Pathetic!"

I grit my teeth and just continued crawling. I ignored the pain, the voices and all the things happening behind me. I only focused on what was in front of me, of the place I needed to get to. In response, my vision narrowed and I seemed to only be able to see the wall of trees with no space between them. It seemed unnatural.

"[Fa-" before I could finish it I coughed up more blood.

There was no way I could concentrate on it right now. Something in me refused to let me use any magic. I hadn't noticed before but my magic mark had been trying to deactivate on its own, and now it finally did.

Anti-Mana... shit, this isn't good at all.

Anti-Mana?

It's capable of destroying magic itself...

Oh, how fun!

I grit my teeth as I sped up my crawling as much as I could. That only increased the pain but I didn't really have much choice if I wanted to get away from Terror. Once I reached the wall of trees I was panting from exhaustion. I felt tired and my entire body hurt. But I powered through and looked for some way to get in. Something suddenly crashed into the tree wall beside me. It was a tree...

Call for help, dryads tend to help travellers in need in their forest!

"He-" I coughed up even more blood.

That repeated a few times until I finally managed to do it right.

"Help!" I screamed at the top of my lungs.

I heard a gasp from the other side of the tree wall and it opened up. At that point, I blacked out. I only felt something grab me and drag me away. I then heard the tree wall closing and after that, it was all dark around me, everything went black.